LONDON, Oct 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Investment bank Credit Suisse has been fined £147m by UK authorities over a corruption scandal involving Mozambique’s tuna fishing industry.
The bank will also write off $200m of debt “tainted by corruption” that was owed by the African country, the Financial Conduct Authority said.
The fine is part of a $475m settlement with UK, Swiss and US regulators.
Credit Suisse staff allegedly took and paid bribes as they arranged $1.3bn of industry loans.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the bank had “failed to properly manage the risk of financial crime”.
Executive director of enforcement Mark Steward said: “The FCA’s fine reflects the impact of these tainted transactions which included a debt crisis and economic harm for the people of Mozambique.
“The fine would have been higher if not for Credit Suisse agreeing to provide the debt write-off of $200m.”
According to the FCA, a Mozambique government contractor secretly paid “significant kickbacks, estimated at over $50m, to members of Credit Suisse’s deal team” between 2012 and 2016 in order to secure loans at more favourable rates.
Two managing directors at the investment bank were among those to allegedly receive the bribes.
Meanwhile, Mozambican officials received at least $137m in bribes during the same period, the FCA said.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Credit Suisse had “deficient internal accounting controls, which failed to properly address significant and known risks concerning bribery”.
The bank has agreed to pay the SEC nearly $100m, the regulator said.
Former Credit Suisse investment bankers and their intermediaries have been indicted, the SEC said.
The fine comes as 19 individuals – including the son of former President Armando Guebuza – have gone on trial in Mozambique charged with bribery, embezzlement and money laundering. They deny the claims. — NNN-AGENCIES
